


Unwanted Nebula

by sirchl0e (honeystix22194)



Category: The Promised Neverland
Genre: Character Death, Emma/Norman (The Promised Neverland) - Freeform, F/M, Love Triangles, M/M, Multi, Near Death, One-Sided Emma/Ray (The Promised Neverland), Presumed Dead, The Promise (The Promised Neverland), Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-07
Updated: 2021-01-26
Packaged: 2021-03-09 19:53:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,100
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27931816
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/honeystix22194/pseuds/sirchl0e
Summary: The new Mom of the Grace Field House, Emma, has been doing a very good job at providing special kids to Headquarters for feeding. Even if she cries every time. Every child she leads away to their death only reminds her of Norman and Ray. Both of which were killed when they were 12. She didn't think it was fair. That each farm only had a Mom. She wished there was a way for special boys to survive too, her heart attached so dearly to both Ray and Norman to fully let them go. Even though they hadn't been a part of her life for nearly 5 years.At just 16, she was selected to be the youngest Mom in history, even younger than Isabella, who was 19.The job is not satisfying, but Emma loves being around all the kids and watching them all grow up... well, as much as they can grow up. She just refuses to think about the gruesome demise of her kids unless she absolutely has to.Emma does what she can to survive. She does what she can to do her absolute best and make her kids' lives comfortable and loving enough. But, what if, soon enough, someone revives her little flicker of hope she had for escaping?[ALL CHARACTERS AND SETTINGS GO TO KAIU SHIRAI AND POSUKA DEMIZU, THE CREATORS OF THE PROMISED NEVERLAND]
Relationships: Emma/Norman (The Promised Neverland), Emma/Ray (The Promised Neverland), Norman/Ray (The Promised Neverland)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 59





	1. Past/Present/Future

**AFTER FINALLY** putting the last baby to bed, Emma sighed in exhaustion, hands on her hips. She made sure to do a thorough count of all of them before she moved through the door to her office. It used to be Isabella's, but Isabella was taken back to Headquarters to live to train Moms for the rest of her life. And honestly, Emma wouldn't have it any other way. Isabella deserved somewhere where she could just _live_ for the rest of her life. Safely. At least there, Isabella could do her work and feel good about it and feel good with herself. And since Isabella had resigned so early, her recommendations had landed Emma in charge of Plantation Three.

It wasn't the worst job ever. If you didn't count the killings and reporting back to Headquarters and raising all these kids for slaughter. Emma had barely been here as Mom and she already wished she didn't have to be. She loved the kids, so much. And some of her siblings were still there, like Phil. He was still here. Now proudly 9 years old. It was getting harder and harder to ship the children off, growing attached to each one of them. Not to mention the fact that they still reminded her of Norman and Ray... and Conny.

Conny had been the first she'd seen. Norman and Ray... she just _knew_ that they were dead. Once you were shipped off, there was no coming back. And when Norman left, she had studied his handwriting so very closely and wrote fake letters from him to the littler kids in the House. Just to give them a little sliver of hope that Norman was having a good life. Even though he didn't have a life at all. She'd done the same for Ray, too.

It was very important to her to keep the spirits of Ray and Norman alive in the House. The two who had done their very best to come up with an escape plan and work around the impossibility of Emma's determination to bring everybody along.

Her fingers ghosted the little picture of her and Norman that Ray had taken with his camera, back when he was taking it all apart to build the device to disable their trackers. She'd kept it, the five years that Ray and Norman had gone, wanting it to remember them by. And their old drawings and such were tacked up on the wall, Emma not wanting to let them go.

She sat down at her desk, another heavy sigh leaving her as she dropped her head into her hands, staring blankly down at the desk. Another shipment would be scheduled soon. And this time it was Phil. He'd grown too smart and too daring. Just like Norman had been. And so Headquarters had phoned, and February 16th, 2050 marked the day Phil would have to go. She didn't want to give him up. She'd known him since he was a baby. And he knew about the harvest and the killing. She didn't wish this upon anybody. 

She wished Norman or Ray were here to guide her through this. She was just trying to survive in this world and now she had to watch child after child dies right in front of her. That wasn't how she viewed her life would go at all. Before Conny, she did imagine herself maybe becoming a Mom just like Isabella, but that was when she believed that this place was a peaceful place to grow up. But nobody ever made it past 12 years old here. That was the worst part. Norman was taken at 11, and Ray was taken at 12. Both raw points of the desperate pattern seen through the harvest. Anybody above 12 would be the equivalent to rotten meat. 12 and under was, as Emma guessed, probably a delicacy. Especially 12-year-olds. She wondered if either of the boys had felt any pain before they went. She wondered if Isabella just stood there and watched and listened with a straight face, standing there with unblinking violet eyes. She wondered if Isabella had ever shuddered, screamed, covered her eyes or cried like Emma had whenever she had to take a child to be harvested. But she could only wonder. It wasn't as if she would ever know.

She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and put the picture away, shutting and locking the drawer it was in. She didn't want one of the little kids to wander in and shuffle through the drawers, find the picture and mess it up. It was the one thing that she had left of her two dearest friends. She knew Ray had taken it, and of course, Norman was in the picture with her. It was a comfort for her. Sometimes she tucked it into the breast of her apron and carried it around with her. It warmed her heart to know it was there.

Emma soon decided to go grab her calendar and mark all the shipments and such early so she didn't have to do it sporadically throughout the year. She didn't really like using the calendar, because she could see the old numbered days and the X's, with circles around Norman and Ray's names. She pushed herself up, hurrying into the spare room to grab it and hurrying out, quickly sitting back down. She started speeding through the dates, wincing as she circled and wrote, not wanting to have to deal with any more shipments. It was the _last_ thing she wanted to do. She really just wished it was an orphanage like she was told when she was small. But you can't always get what you want.

She always found herself wondering what Norman would do in a situation like this. Would he fake out the deaths? And was that even possible? There was no way to evade the demons. They were hungry. And that was it. They killed you. That was it. And besides, Norman was dead anyway. There were no more thoughts for him. His brain was probably the first thing that was devoured.

She got shudders and goosebumps just thinking about it and she shivered, before hearing one of the babies crying from the other room. She jumped up and rushed out of her office to see what was going on. She always had terror in her heart whenever one of the babies started to cry, never sure why. They had nothing to be scared about, and there was nothing that could've bothered them in the House. It was nothing but peace and tranquillity. The perfect place to grow up.

She threw open the door, intent on hushing the baby before they could wake the other children up, but froze dead in her tracks. There was already someone there. They had the baby in their arms, hushing them and singing a lullaby to them, voice deep and gentle. Emma squinted in the dark, only to realise there was somebody else there with the first. They were both tall, a few more inches then Emma herself, and their white clothes were dirty, ripped and a couple of inches too small for them. With a cautious hand, she flicked the lights on, her breath hitching in her throat as she stared back at two familiar faces.

"Ray-? Norman-?"


	2. Them

**"RAY-? NORMAN-?"** Emma gasped out, a shock passed over her face, cheeks paling, all colour draining from her skin. They were supposed to be dead. Both of them. Dead. But here they were, standing right in front of her. Very, very much alive. She was hurt, shocked, terrified and ecstatic all at once. Her best friends were standing right in front of her.

Norman looked up at her, offering a gentle smile. He'd grown up. A lot. A thinner face, longer hair, taller figure. His white hair was matted and dirty, and his clothes were in worse shape. He waved at her, moving to go over to her, a hand outstretched to greet her as Ray stayed behind, the baby in his arms. Emma just watched as Norman walked up to her before striking him hard across the face, fat tears welling up in her eyes.

"I THOUGHT YOU WERE DEAD!" She yelled, tears spilling over as Norman gently cradled his cheek, a soft "ouch" leaving him. "YOU TWO JUST SHOW UP OUT OF NOWHERE AFTER _FIVE YEARS_ OF ME THINKING YOU WERE GONE!? YOU-YOU SHOW UP _TOGETHER!?_ HOW DARE YOU LEAVE ME LIKE THAT!" She was furious, and Norman straightened up to hush her, the babies shifting and whining in their sleep. But Emma didn't want to calm down. She was so angry at both of them. Just leaving her alone. And pretending to be _dead._ Out of all things. They didn't even let her in on their little plan. They just booked it and left. They left her all by herself.

"Emma-" Ray said softly, in that same deep voice she'd heard in the lullaby. "-we came here to explain. And to see you. We missed you." He placed the baby back down in the crib, petting his hair back with a gentle hand. "You really didn't have to hit him. We understand you're upset." His voice was calm. "But there's a lot of things that you don't understand. These past five years we've worked to get back to you, Emma."

Emma was not upset. She was _livid._ But she lowered her voice anyway. "You two come back here after _five years_. Leaving me here all by myself to believe that my two best friends are dead!? Do you have any idea the grief I went through? I became a Mom for Christ's Sake! That was the only way I was able to stay alive! You two left me here without letting me in on your little plan. What would've happened if I got harvested!? Hmm!? How terrible would you feel if you came back and I wasn't here!? You two are so lucky I'm smart!" Tears were running down her face, and she only let herself cry more, seeing the hurt look on Norman's face. Served him right. They both needed to experience even a _fraction_ of what she had to go through when both of them "died."

"Emma-" Norman started, Emma merely slapping him again.

"Don't _Emma-_ me! I am furious with both of you! R-right now I wish neither of you had come back! Why are you here!? Why did you come back!? _How_ are you not dead!?" Emma hissed back, feeling a little bit bad about hitting Norman so hard. But now wasn't the time to apologise. She wasn't sure if she wanted them out of her sight, or she wanted answers from them.

"Emma," Ray said, scoldingly. "Don't hit him anymore. We can explain everything. We just need a few minutes to go through it. And why we didn't bring you. We have an explanation for that too. I promise. We did everything for your sake, Emma. You just need to listen when we tell you. You need to understand why we had to do it, and who helped us escape. It's going to be a decently long story, Emma. And you must listen to us. There are 5 years of unanswered questions we must answer. And there are 5 years of catching up you need to give us. But we are back, Emma. And we're here to stay this time. Unless you do not choose to take us in. Then we do understand. It is a valid thing to be angry about. I would be angry if you and Norman did the same to me."

Emma took a deep breath, but nodded along to Ray's words, dipping down to help Norman straighten back up and frantically apologising to him, now feeling _really_ bad about hitting him. Twice. "I'm so sorry Norman- I was just angry- I missed y-you so much and then you were s-so suddenly in front of m-me that I was angry at you-"

"No worries, Emma," Norman said reassuringly. His voice had also grown to be smooth and gentle, like Ray's and Emma nodded again, tears still running down her face. Norman wiped them away. "May we bathe and get a change of clothes?"

Emma snapped out of her little rage fit and nodded, waving them out of the babies' room and into her office, pushing the bookshelf aside and hurrying down to the basement to shuffle through the pyjamas, wondering if any of them would it the now-grown boys standing dirty in her office. She picked two huge sizes and hurried back up the stairs, locking the door and sliding the bookshelf back. "I do hope these work, Ray- Norman-" She said, handing them the pyjamas. 

The two inspected the clothes and nodded to each other before leaving to go wash up, leaving Emma alone in her office. She collapsed down into her chair, an exasperated sigh leaving her as new tears started to form in her eyes. _Goddammit. How did they survive together for 5 years? How? I don't understand. How did they even escape with their lives?_ But she supposed all her questions would be answered as soon as the boys were done getting washed up and changed. She guaranteed it would be a long story. But she was prepared to hear it. Wanting to hear Norman and Ray out before getting angry again. And she wanted to know how they got out without being caught by the demons. They were _right there._ Was there a reason Isabella had to resign?

The boys soon had finished, gotten changed into the pyjamas and made their way back to Emma's office. Norman hadn't even had the chance to tell Emma how proud of her he was. Or how beautiful she'd grown up to be. All he'd gotten was hit twice and then yelled at. But he had assumed that reaction. Both him and Ray had. Ray had been the one to bring up that Emma may hit them when she saw them again. So he wasn't so upset. Just a little hurt that Emma had chosen to hit _him_ instead of Ray.

"Hi. Ray. Norman." Emma said once they had come back. Her feet were hiked up onto the desk in front of her and her long orange hair had been tied neatly into a bun on the top of her head, covered in a subtle net. "Sit."

The boys did as told and Norman dropped his gaze into his lap, tapping his foot very slightly on the wooden floor.

"Explain."

Ray glanced up at her, having kept eye contact the whole time, black eyes holding her hateful gaze. "Of course." He said, bowing his head just a bit. "It started, of course, the day that Norman decided to let himself be taken. Or at least that's what everyone, including you, though. But Isabella had pulled us off to the side a few days before, telling us she had a plan. She took Norman to the gate, but along the way broke his arm and collarbone, and then he pretended and acted like he had had brain damage. From taking a fall. He was discarded, the demons have already ruled him out for dead. So they left him in the waiting room and told Isabella to bring me instead. So Norman got out safely. He went back with Isabella and hid out in the spare room until it was my turn. We almost got caught when I left.

"Isabella had to tell the demons I had an infection raging from a paper cut and it was spreading into my brain. So I was as good as dead too. They wanted you last, but they couldn't, because from what they knew, you still had a broken leg. So, Isabella released both Norman and me out, having waited those two months for his arm and collarbone to heal. It was long and it was painful for him, but he made it through. And he was a stellar actor. After Isabella released us, she cut out our tracking devices. We still have some of our ears left, she didn't cut it all off, just a concaved back. And then she sent us off to the wall and helped us get across. She had done it before herself as a child, and we three came together to create a foolproof method to get us to the other side of the cliff. It ended up working.

'And Isabella sent us off with food, some clothes and water. She told us she would send for us or come get us herself when it was time. She never did. Until now. And I don't know why. We were expecting to come back and Isabella was still in charge of the Plant. But then we realised along the way that there was no way she'd send for us if you had been harvested. So it was easy to connect the dots. So hello, Emma."

Emma just listened along, having sat up midway through the story, laying her chin on her fist. "Isabella. Mama really helped you so much?"

Norman nodded. "She couldn't bear to see any more kids die. She'd given up. She had only been doing this to survive, Emma- she never really wanted to. She'd been desensitized for such a long while. But she broke out of it in time to save us. And then she resigned I assume. I don't think she wants to be a Mom ever again."

Emma bit her lip and nodded as well. "She did resign very suddenly..."

Ray crossed his legs and leaned forward on his elbows. "She helped us so much Emma- you have to believe us. We're here to see you. We're here to help you and all 4 of the Plantations here. I swear on it. We both missed you, Emma."

Emma swallowed thickly, a third wave of tears rushing to her eyes before she bounded off her chair and threw her arms around the boys. "I missed you two so much!" She cried. "I'm so glad you're not gone!"

"We are too, Emma-" Norman said softly. "-we are too."


	3. Truths in Store

**ONCE THE THREE** had broken apart and wiped their tears, they sat together in a small circle in Emma's office, glancing between each other, each of them trying to come up with some sort of small talk to pass the time and fill the 5-year gap they had missed of each other's company. Emma had her hands clasped together, having taken her bun out, letting her orange curls spill over her shoulders and down her back, to which she caught Norman staring intently at a few times. The silence was awkward, to say the least, Ray not even having much to say after he explained their escape.

"Emma-" Norman said after a while, the redhead perking up a bit in her chair, thankful to finally have some sort of conversation going.

"Norman-"

Norman sighed a bit, not liking all the attention on him. Even Ray had been longing for conversation, now watching Norman intently, urging him to speak more, urging him to break the silence. It was a feeling none of them were used to. They never ran out of conversation. Usually, Emma would be the one speaking. She would be talking as much as she could, barely taking breaths between her words, her high, gentle voice coming out oddly strong and making Norman smile. _He_ was never the one talking longer than a few sentences. Normally during conversations, unless it was urgent, even Ray spoke more than Norman himself did. And now he didn't expect the sudden latch onto his words. He wasn't used to the others searching so desperately for conversation. "You've grown up well." He said finally. "Beautiful."

"Oh-" Emma said in quick surprise, blushing at the compliment. "-thank you. You two have as well. I didn't think I'd ever see you two this old. This grown-up." And it was true. 5 years she had thought them dead. 5 years all she had to go on was their child selves. Their little kid selves. The two sitting in front of her and partially next to her weren't the Ray and Norman she used to know. Now she had to get to know these versions of them. "I'm glad I get to, though."

"We are too," Ray added. "I think I always knew you would be the one who was guaranteed to grow up. Get a recommendation for Mom and you'd be up and out to live your life. Even if it was one merely to purely survive. But I'm glad that we get to see you this way, Emma. More mature and older. It's a breath of fresh air. Norman's right, you really have grown up so well. And so very beautiful too."

Norman glanced over at him with a little huff, which just turned into a small laugh, turning back to Emma. "So he just basically said what I just said- except _fancier_ -" He laughed, glad to see Emma crack a smile. That's all he had ever been working for. Was just to at least see her smile again. Just once. And here it was. Her genuine, bright smile that he had always loved dearly to see. Her smile was the one thing he always wished he could photograph in his mind. And now, he was so relieved to see this young woman smiling back at him that tears sprung into his eyes once more. He really had missed her. He didn't really know how much until he saw her again. Even if she had hit him twice in the face.

"No, I rephrased what you had said because you said a total of 5 words and I think Emma deserves better than that," Ray replied and Emma chuckled just barely, making a little smile tug at Ray's lips a well. He didn't realise he would miss her so much, thinking that the plan would've just been foolproof and easy to pull off. It was simple to get out of course, but it was hard to stay _away_ , Isabella's message seeming to be nonexistent. No possibility of ever seeing their Emma again. It just seemed to be getting more hopeless every single day. He didn't know what to do, comforting Norman and holding him and telling him everything was going to be okay. Restraining the other when he tried to leave. He had wanted to get to Emma just as bad as Norman did, having to sit him down and explain to him that they would be putting Emma in danger if they tried to go see her. And Norman cried for many days and many nights, dreaming about Emma, _longing_ for Emma. Just wanting to see her again. Just one time. And Ray had been there to reassure him and to tell him that it was going to be alright. That nothing was going to happen to Emma. She was smart and she would be okay. He believed in her these past 5 years. And now here she was. Sitting right in front of them. All grown up and well.

"5 years and you two are already bickering," Emma said, shaking her head. "God knows how badly you two got along during those years you were gone."

"Oh, it was bad." Ray said and Norman laughed loudly, leaning his head back a bit. "Every day we would get into a fight." He grinned. "All the time Norman was complaining and arguing. Oh, Ray, I'm _cold!_ Ray, I'm _scared!_ Do we have to set up here!?" He made his voice higher to mock Norman's voice and Norman continued laughing, shoving him a bit to the side, making the brunette chuckle.

"You two are impossible," Emma said, but she was laughing too, and Ray liked the atmosphere now. The dark, low laugh of Norman's as he gently held at his stomach and the sweet, rich sound of Emma's as the noise was building up into a little chortle. He liked the noise, both of them pleasing to his ears. They sounded foreign, but nearly like music. And he missed the laughter, not having heard much these past few years. He liked how fast Norman and Emma had begun laughing. And he liked that he had been the one to make them laugh.

"You know very well that it was you who was complaining!" Norman said and Ray gently pushed him away, making the other laugh just a bit harder. It was almost as if nothing had changed. But they certainly weren't 11/12 anymore. Ray himself was 17, Norman was 16, nearing 17 and Emma was 16 as well. They had grown up quite a bit. Which was unheard of for males. Of course, Emma was expected to have grown up, being a candidate for a Mom position. It was just lucky she had ended up as Mom of Plantation Three and not a different one.

"You two must be hungry," Emma said as her laughter died down a bit, the two boys glancing between each other. "Let me go fetch you something from the kitchen. She doubted they had eaten much during the years. Both of them looked much slimmer than healthy. Although... she didn't really know what a teenage boy was _supposed_ to look like. All she knew is they matured a lot in the years from 13 to 18. Isabella had told her that they got half adult looking and half tween looking in that time. She also said that they got more attractive during that time too, and Emma could clearly see what she meant. Norman's baby fat had all gone away, his face was much more narrow, his hands were bigger too, and he was much _much_ taller than he used to be. Ray was about the same, except his face was much more chiselled than Norman's was. And now she wasn't sure if they had just grown up, or if they really were underfed.

"Yeah, some food would be good," Norman answered for both of them, Ray nodding along. "We could get it ourselves though you know?"

"Oh no. Don't bother. _I'm_ Mom of this House. You two are mere boys." Emma said with a teasing smile, doing a sarcastic little curtsey at them. I promise I'll be right back."

The boys chuckled but agreed and then Emma left, leaving them in the dim light of her office where they waited for her very patiently. Minutes upon minutes when by before the door clicked open and Norman turned around to greet Emma again but stopped.

It wasn't Emma.


	4. Old Friends and Cabbage Stew

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! It's Danny!! Author of this fanfiction!! I'm glad everybody is enjoying it and I am very grateful for all the kudos I've been getting!! Thank you so so much!! (Sorry it took so long to update!! I had some schoolwork to do! But hopefully I'll start updating more!)  
> ~Hope you enjoy!~

**IT WASN'T EMMA** and the two boys scrambled up off their chairs quicker than they ever had before, panic in their eyes and in their stance, Norman's long legs trembling slightly as he backed up behind the desk. Nobody showed up in the doorway. That puzzled the two, and they exchanged glances, Ray's brown eyes wide and confused. Norman tried to peek out of the door, squinting to try and see someone. _Anyone._ But to no avail.

"Nobody's there-" Norman whispered and Ray bit his lip. 

"Well- then how did the door open-?" Ray asked, his own voice barely above a whisper, the tone sending chills up Norman's spine, hating that they had now been sent into a hushed state of fear.

"I don't know-"

They both just stood there, frozen, many terror-filled thoughts running through their minds. Ray was hoping it wasn't any of the kids that didn't know them, prone to freaking out and rushing to go get Emma, and then Emma would be thrown into a decision of whether to tell the child what was going on, or sending Norman and Ray away. And neither of those decisions would be ones Emma had the courage to make. Ray was almost holding his breath, ragged breaths whistling through his chapped lips as he and Norman waited, the blonde reaching out blindly to hold his hand, fear clear in his blue eyes. He wished they knew what the hell was going on, not liking the suspense of the open door. Ray even had the terrifying thought that one of the demons had gotten loose and found it's way into the House. That made him squeeze Norman's hand just a bit harder.

A few minutes went by and the two boys hardly breathed, their breaths sounding too damn loud in the quiet room before the door started to creak open more. _Creeeeakk._ It slid open very slowly, and soon, they both relaxed. 

It was Phil.

The little Puerto Rican boy was standing on tiptoes to reach the tall doorknob, not exactly tall enough just on his own, even though he had grown up more in the 5 years they were away. He grunted a bit when he had finally opened the door all the way, straightening up, taking an intake of breath to say _"Emma-!"_ but pausing when he saw the males in front of him. He was scared at first, not used to seeing teenage males since none of them usually made it past 12. He backed up a bit, but slowly, _slowly_ their features began to make sense to him, and deep blue eyes scanned their codes on the sides of their necks. "Ray-? Norman-?"

The teens themselves had needed a moment to take in the 9-year-old, his appearance odd to their eyes, but soon, the two said in unison: "Phil!?"

The boy came running up to them, jumping into Ray's arms first and then quickly squirming out to go hug Norman, arms wrapped tightly around his neck. "I missed you guys!"

The teens were laughing, and tears actually had begun to slip from Ray's eyes as they embraced the boy. "We missed you too!" He said, half laughing, half crying, collapsing down into one of the chairs again, head in his hand. "Oh God, we missed you so damn much, Phil! I didn't think you would still be here!"

Phil squirmed out of Norman's hold, hopping back down onto the floor. "Emma kept doing what she could to stunt my departure! Or- _Mom-_ does what she can! She really loves all the kids here and she prolongs all the shipments as much as she can! She's a really good Mom! We all love her! And the older kids she's explained the situation to, and they've all accepted it. And they've all decided that even if it's scary, they'll go along with it, even if Mom didn't tell them to!"

Norman was still laughing in disbelief, a watery, deep sound that made Ray perk up. The last thing he wanted to do was hear Norman cry too. It would only make _him_ cry more if Norman started as well.

“God we really missed you!” Norman said, tucking strands of dirty white hair behind his ear, hands shaking slightly as he bent down to hug Phil again, the 9-year-old gladly obliging and wrapping his arms tightly around the older’s neck.

“I missed you too! Gilda’s not here anymore, but she’s working to be Mom for Plantation Two! So she’s close by!” Phil explained, which just made Ray let out a grateful sob, covering his face with his hands, more tears running down his face. “Ray- don’t cry! Don’t cry!” The boy said in a little panic, moving away from Norman to go climb into the brunette’s lap. “It’s okay! I promise- you don’t have to cry-”

  
But Ray was already gone into tears and Norman came over to kneel beside him, waving Phil away and telling him to move so he could embrace the other, letting him cry into his shoulder. He knew that Ray had done his very best to stay strong for him while they were on the move for those 5 years, awaiting Isabella's word. He knew it was harder for Ray to be gone than it was for Norman, the brunette missing his biological mom (Isabella), and missing Emma even more than Norman did. He knew it was hard. Norman remembered being half-asleep in the cold, Ray sitting at the edge of their tent, humming his mother's lullaby, thinking Norman was asleep, tears running down his face as he cried softly. He always let out little bits of his emotions when the white-haired teen was believed to be asleep. But Norman knew. And he heard. He heard all of Ray's pain, and he so badly wanted to help him, but he couldn't. He didn't want Ray to know that he was listening in.  
  


Soon, Ray had finished his fit and he sat up, wiping his face and sniffling just as Emma walked back into the room, a tray in her hand. It contained two bowls of cabbage stew and Ray smiled at the smell. "Ray-?" She asked in concern, seeing his tears. "-are you alright?" She hadn't noticed Phil yet. She only saw that Ray was crying, and it worried her a lot. A _lot_. She placed the soup tray on her desk, moving over to wipe Ray's tears away with her thumb, Norman backing away from him.

He didn't like the gentle touch Emma gave him, blue eyes darting to the floor, watching his dirty shoes as he traced designs on the carpet, tuning out the rest of them and waiting until Emma stopped touching Ray's face. He hadn't noticed he zoned out _too_ long until Emma was handing him a bowl of stew. "Oh- thank you Emma-" He said with a smile and she smiled brightly back at him.

They all had settled back down into their seats, listening as Phil filled them on in what was going on in the House, Emma nodding along to what he said, adding in that Isabella was now training Moms instead of being one herself, explaining the trauma and the pain the woman had to go through and Ray nodded along. He knew his mother's violet eyes would be full of pain and sorrow and he understood that it was something she would have to retire being, no matter how much she loved being around the kids. He wished he was able to see her again. Norman had commented on how much he was starting to grow to look like her, brown eyes beginning to deepen out into a dark violet themselves. He could only trust Norman's words, not having seen his reflection in 5 years. He didn't know that he really was in fact beginning to look like her. Her kind, gentle aura passing off in his own.

He just had the idea that he still looked like the old Ray. But then again, Norman probably thought he looked how he had when he was 12 as well. But just looking at the state of Emma and how much she had changed, there was no doubt they had too.


	5. What Now?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey!! Sorry for not updating for so long I had school stuff to do and I was just generally overwhelmed and had no motivation!! But I am back!! Hope you enjoy!  
> ((Nude scene included))

**THEY FINISHED EATING IN SILENCE** , Emma pondering over the two boys in front of her, noticing how dirty they still were. Their hair was dirty and untrimmed, their shoes were still much too small, they still had some dirt left on their faces. _A bath would do them some good._ She thought, and then immediately flushed red. The baths needed two people to work them and to keep the water running so the Moms could make sure none of the small children would be able to hurt themselves inside. The thought of seeing the two. _undressed_... flashed in her mind and she fanned herself a bit, hurriedly finishing her soup before standing up. "A bath would do you two good-" She said. "And you two may help each other I wouldn't want to make either of you uncomfortable being in there-"

Norman blinked owlishly back at her before nodding. "Sounds fair." He set his empty bowl down on the desk, looking to Ray. "Shall we be off then?" He asked and Ray lingered for a moment before nodding as well, discarding his bowl.

"We'll be back." Norman said, grabbing Ray's arm and tugging him off to the bathroom. He hadn't thought twice that he would have to see Ray undressed. and he wasn't thinking of it now. But that was _all_ Ray could think of, his face warm as he thought about them seeing each other like that, letting Norman drag him off.

They soon arrived and Norman shut and locked the door, glancing back at the brunette. "Who first then?" He asked and the both of them went quiet.

Blue eyes stared back at near violet before Norman huffed in annoyance, tugging his shirt off over his head and tossing it to the floor. "Come help me with the water." He said, tugging his pants off as well, Ray looking away as he did. Norman noticed and he groaned. "Stop being such a baby and come help with the water, we just need to wash up and then we'll be back dressed. I can't start it myself."

Ray scratched the back of his neck and reluctantly moved to kneel down and help Norman with the water, Norman muttering an exasperated _thank you._

Ray didn't know what to think seeing Norman this way, not used to seeing anybody, even himself, completely without clothes on. And it made his heart beat just a little bit faster. Probably from nerves, not wanting to make Norman uncomfortable with him in here. Although he did wonder what Norman looked like right now and he glanced up at him, watching him run his hands through his hair with a hum. What was odd was that he had nearly the same body shape that Ray did, he was just _obviously_ more slender and much taller than Ray himself was. And he was... shaped very nicely. _Weird, but he is. He's very- round and slim... is that creepy?_ He kept looking at him until the other turned around curiously and then Ray's dark eyes flicked away as quickly as he possibly could get it, not wanting Norman to catch him.

"Are you going to help?" Norman asked with a raise of his eyebrows.

"Oh- uh- yeah... sorry-" Ray mumbled, tugging the nozzle to hold it so the bath could begin to fill up. He cleared his throat awkwardly, keeping his gaze fixed onto the floor. He had some questions of his own to ask Norman. Or, at least a _question._ He hadn't believed it would be true. But he wanted to know if he was in love with Emma. Ray himself loved Emma. I mean, both of them did. She was their best friend. How could they _not_ love her? She was a ball of energy and sunshine and smiles and everything good in this world. But the way Norman loved her _had_ to be different. Even though Ray denied it. There was something different about the way he looked at her, about the way he talked about her, longed for her. And Ray wanted to know if it was true. If he really did love Emma that way.

"Something wrong, Ray?" Norman asked, tapping him on the shoulder so he could look up at him, blue eyes curious. "You seem to be lost in thought."

"Oh. Nothing's wrong... just-just thinking about how much Emma's changed. And-and taking in the surrealness of everything. Not much thought behind it though..."

Norman nodded along in understanding, beginning to wash his hair. "You look like you want to ask me a question. Do you wish to ask me something? If you do, you can go ahead and ask. We've been together for 5 years, surely there's _something_ you want to ask..."

Ray was quiet and he shook his head. "No. I'm good."

"You sure?"

"I-" Ray sighed. "-no."

"Then ask me the question. There's no harm done."

Ray thought about it for a moment before giving in and nodding in agreement. "It's been on my mind since we were 12... I always saw the way you looked at Emma, and the way you treated her and talked about her and _to_ her- and I guess I'm just wondering... do you love her?"

"Huh? Of course, I do. She's our best friend."

"No. Norman. Not like _that_. I mean really. Romantically. Like Mom used to tell us in those stories. About how a man and a woman would fall in love and they would bind each other through Holy matrimony and stay together for the rest of their lives. Or those stories about the men that fell in love with each other and ran away together to be with each other. Or even the one about the women who fell in love and they confessed their love to each other under the moonlight in the rain. Beautiful things like that. _Love._ Real love, Norman. Not best friend love. Are you in love with Emma?"

Norman stared back at him in puzzlement. "Oh..." He muttered, furrowing his brows a bit before shaking his head. "No. I'm not." Which was a lie. And Ray knew it. "I'm not in love with Emma. I only love her as my best friend and sister. I don't even know what romance is. Why do you want to know? Are you in love with her?"

Ray shook his head. "No. I'm not. I think if I were to fall in love with anybody out of you and Emma, it would be you."

Norman cocked his head. "I'm flattered. And I'm glad both of us are on the same page... you're not currently in love with me are you?"

"Oh- uh- no- no, no, no, no-" Ray laughed awkwardly, shaking his head more rapidly. "I'm not I can promise you that. I've had enough of you over the past 5 years."

Norman snorted and rolled his eyes. "What a relief. Kidding. But I'm glad. Our group will stay friends and friends only, Ray. Okay? No romantic feelings or anything. Not for me. Or for you. Or for Emma. Alright?"

Ray nodded. Although he didn't think it was quite fair that Norman was putting that limitation over their heads. What if somehow they did fall for one another? What would happen then? Would it ruin anything? Why was he so concerned over it? "Okay. Sounds good." He offered his hand for Norman and him to shake on it.

Hopefully this would all be okay soon, and he, Emma, and Norman could just be as normal of a friend group as they could possibly be in this world.


End file.
